Following the stalemate in the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs yesterday with the “accidental” withdrawal by the Ministry of Justice of the bill which creates special jurisdiction in the District Courts that will examine financial cases related to the sale, the opposition parties are preparing their “attack”.
Despite the assurances of the Minister of Justice and the President of DISY that the bill will not be withdrawn, but also the commitments of the Minister of Finance that the ministry will proceed with changes in the bill that regulates the judicial process, MPs who initially hesitated and then gave the Their positive vote in the budget is still suspicious.
EDEK and Solidarity MPs are preparing to change the lights in the bill. Proposals are being drafted in order to strengthen the legal framework but also to ensure that the sale of the mortgaged property of the borrower who will go to court will be frozen. In fact, the two parties will seek to ally with other opposition parties in order to form the required majority in Parliament. It is worth noting that AKEL is also preparing similar proposals and according to information from “F”, an effort will be made to reach an agreement with the other opposition parties. DIKO also has doubts about the efficiency of the special jurisdiction .
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Phone calls
However, yesterday the government was trying to put out the fires that had been lit during the session of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs. Ministers had a telephone conversation with both the president of EDEK Marino Sizopoulos and the president of the Solidarity Eleni Theocharous, assuring them that the bill will not be withdrawn but amendments will be submitted which will further improve it. The written statement made by the Ministry of Finance yesterday afternoon was also indicative. In fact, it seems that the ministry will proceed with concessions, as, in addition to amending the law on the recourse of borrowers to the courts, it will also proceed with changes in the legal framework for sales. As the Ministry of Finance points out, “the Government, in order to fulfill its commitments to the parliamentary parties that voted in favor of the state budget, intends to submit changes to the entire legislative framework governing the judicial process, as well as the sale procedure for the speedy settlement of disputes between borrowers and banks / repurchase companies both before and after the start of the divestiture process with the main emphasis on the socially and economically vulnerable groups of the population “. At the same time, he takes responsibility for the confusion that took place, which resulted in political upheaval. “The parties that voted in favor of the budget were and are aware, and any misinterpretation regarding the intentions of the government is due to the Ministry of Finance, which has the coordinating role,” the ministry said in a statement.
The facts
Prior to the government's commitments to change the legal framework, the meeting of the parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs had preceded, at which it came to see. During the discussion of the infamous bill, a representative of the Ministry of Justice stated that the ministry intends to withdraw the bill. Something that provoked the strong reaction of the opposition MPs but also of DISY. The chairman of the Committee and MP of DISY George Georgiou characterized the withdrawal of the bill as “leniently unacceptable”. The president of DISY, Averof Neophytou, was informed about the events and rushed to the Parliament to collect the uncollected items. A little later, the Minister of Justice, Emily Giolitis, went to the Parliament to give her own explanations. A closed-door session followed, where the minister, obviously upset, apologized to the deputies, assuring them that the bill would not be withdrawn. The minister spoke of confusion, error and poor communication, taking responsibility. As she said, her intention was to give a few days, so that the bill returns to Parliament with the amendments that will reflect the commitments given to the parliamentary parties. “It will be, in consultation with the Minister of Finance, for the amendments that need to be made either to him or to other laws, in order for the discussion of this bill to proceed,” he noted. For his part, the president of DISY Averof Neophytou stated that the bill will not be withdrawn. He also explained that “what the government will bring before Parliament in a few days are the amendments to protect borrowers and vulnerable groups” and to finally have a Justice that adjudicates cases in a short time “.
